


hatch & latch

by yolk_sac



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gem Egg Hell, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-19
Updated: 2015-09-19
Packaged: 2018-04-21 11:39:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4827797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yolk_sac/pseuds/yolk_sac
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>babies</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. hatch

Peridot was basking in the sun with her clutch when one of her eggs began to shake. Movement at last! It had been a long two months since she laid. Every day she would meticulously check over every egg to make sure they were okay. Not knowing when they’d hatch, all she could do was wait and hope they didn’t become inert. Now she had to wait no longer – they were hatching! She picked up the egg to see the smallest of cracks starting to form on the surface. The baby gem inside pipped at the shell with such force that it nearly fell out of Peridot’s hands. Definitely Jasper’s offspring, she thought to herself.

“Steven!” she called out, “they’re hatching!” Peridot could hardly contain her excitement. She wanted to peel back the shell herself, speeding up the process, but she didn’t want to risk hurting the gemling. Instead, she placed the egg back down, away from its siblings.

Steven came running with the rest of the Crystal Gems in tow. He skidded to a halt in front of Peridot’s nest and crouched down in front of it. “Did any of them hatch yet?”

“Not yet,” Peridot said as she nudged the hatching egg with her nose. “But soon.” The crack in the egg began to grow, and faint squeaks were coming from inside. Peridot could see a glimpse of orange inside; this egg was a jasper, no doubt. She gently stroked the egg with her finger. “Come on out, baby.”

The gemling’s squeaks were getting louder as she chipped away at the shell. She stretched her limbs, pushing herself against the shell and forcing it apart. The little Jasper fell out of her egg and began to cry. Her white hair was wet and plastered against her skin and her eyes were shut tight. Despite this, she could sense where Peridot was and began to wiggle towards her.

Peridot felt like her heart was about to explode. This was the moment she had been so eagerly waiting for. She loved this little helpless creature more than words could describe. Peridot nuzzled her baby. She licked her clean, washing the eggy goop out of her mane. The gemling’s cries softened to quiet peeps at the touch of her mother.

“It’s so cute!” Steven exclaimed.

“It looks just like Jasper…” Amethyst mumbled under her breath. Pearl hushed her and gave her a warning smack on the arm. The baby was quite reminiscent of Jasper, though. In fact, they looked almost identical except for a slightly different pattern of stripes. Peridot wondered how she’d be able to tell the peridots apart – if she had any, that is.

-

In time, the rest of the eggs began to shake and pip. The second to hatch was a Jasper, as well as the third. Did any of Peridot’s babies look like her? She didn’t know what to expect. Deep down she was hoping for her own doppelganger. Finally, after some struggling, a peridot hatched from the fourth egg.

The peridot was small, about half the size of the jaspers. Still, she was just as feisty. The little gem squealed until her mother drew her close. Peridot stroked the gemling’s head with one of her fingers, being careful to not press too hard. She had seen Earth and space and countless different planets, but none of them filled her with more wonder than this little creature. Peridot grinned widely and nuzzled the baby with her nose, giving her gentle kisses all over her tiny body.

Peridot set her little clone down in the curve of her body along with her siblings. She didn’t want the other ones to get jealous, after all. Peridot watched the four gemlings wiggle around while she waited for the next egg to hatch. They could move about, but barely – their little flailing limbs didn’t take them very far. Peridot couldn’t help but laugh at the first-hatched jasper: the baby had kneaded into Peridot’s abdomen, causing her to get lost in the folds of her mother’s shirt. Peridot found it less funny when her small squeaks of distress turned into an unhappy wail. “It’s okay, baby,” she consoled the gemling as she picked her up and cradled her in her hand. “You’re safe now.” Despite Peridot’s reassurance, the gemling still cried.

Thirty seconds went by and the jasper was still upset. Peridot didn’t know what to do! She held the baby to her chest in an attempt to calm her down when she felt a tingle and wetness on her shirt. Not again, she thought. This had happened before – she was out with Steven when she heard a baby cry, triggering a mysterious fluid to leak from her breasts and embarrass her in front of a crowd of humans. Pearl told her that it was called lactation and humans (and apparently, gems) do it to feed their young.

The baby’s cries lessened to snivels as she smelled her mother’s milk. She tried to wiggle into position to feed, but Peridot was still wearing her shirt. Peridot found this whole thing strange and uncomfortable, but it was what her baby wanted, so she obliged. She slid her shirt over her shoulders and tossed it aside. She had no qualms about being nude, not anymore. The gemling latched on almost as soon as she was able.

“Ohh, that’s weird!” Peridot remarked out loud as her baby suckled. Her milk flowed freely now that she had a baby at her breast. It was a strange feeling, no doubt, but she felt so _motherly_! The gemling had stopped crying completely and now was fully focused on feeding. The other gemlings must have smelled their mother’s milk as well, as they all began to make their way up to where they could feed. “Sorry guys, but I’ve only got two of these things,” she said as she picked up the second oldest jasper and cradled her to her other breast. She could see this getting difficult once the other four eggs hatched.

-

By the end of the day, Peridot had eight squirming gemlings in her nest. Only three turned out to be peridots, but that was okay. She loved them all equally, even the one that screamed when it wasn’t being attended to at every second. All they could do was chirp and wiggle but Peridot took so much delight in watching them. She couldn’t help but be amazed that she created them out of nothing. Well, with a little help from Jasper, that is. Peridot wondered about Jasper and if she would have loved them just as much if she got a chance. It had been a year since she last saw her and she was almost certain she was never coming back. Peridot couldn’t help but miss her despite her callousness towards her and their babies.

She wondered if she missed her, too.


	2. babys

Peridot was awoken by one of her newly hatched gemlings kneading into her stomach. They had just hatched less than 12 hours ago but Peridot was already exhausted. She had been busy grooming them and nursing them and making sure they didn’t wiggle their way out of her nest. A part of her wished they were back in their eggs.

The green gem picked up her wriggling baby and cradled it in her hands. The gemling, a peridot, began to whine and cry. Peridot rocked her gently but to no avail – the baby’s cries only got louder. She then attempted to groom her but that didn’t work either. Peridot tried everything she could; nothing could get the gemling to stop crying.

Peridot felt defeated. She didn’t know how to mother these gems. She was stuck on Earth with nobody to tell her what to do. She had tried her hardest to prepare by reading about human infants but it just wasn’t the same. No species on Earth was like gems. She was lost and alone.

Steven heard the commotion and peeked his head around the corner to check on Peridot. She was facing away from him but he knew she was upset, he could sense it. “Peridot? What’s wrong?” he asked, putting a hand on her shoulder as to not startle her.

“I’m a bad mother,” she blurted out, tears welling in her eyes. The stress was getting to her. “I don’t know what I’m doing!”

“Well, it looks like you know what you’re doing to me.”

“What?”

“You knew how to lick them clean after they hatched, and you knew how to make a nest. Who taught you that?”

The boy was right. Nobody had taught her how to do those things, she just _knew_. She knew she had to keep them warm after they were laid, and she knew to groom and nurse them. Was this instinct?

Peridot laid the crying gemling back down in the crook of her body. She nuzzled in among her siblings and fell back asleep. She just wanted to cuddle! Peridot laughed to herself and wiped the tears out of her eyes. Maybe this wouldn’t be as hard as she thought.


End file.
